2 comments:

The Numenoreans were the race of "High Men" like Aragorn and Faramir, whose ancestors used to live on a great island in the Western Sea until they became proud, were corrupted by Sauron, and tried to conquer Valinor to gain eternal life. At that point, the Valar "called upon the One" and the world was changed. All of the righteous Numenoreans fled in seven ships with the seven palantiri (one of those things Pippin (?) looked into when he shouldn't have) and a seedling descended from one of the two trees that originally lit the world about the dawn of time. Hence, "seven stones and one white tree." I forget where the seven stars come from off of the top of my head. These seven ships reached Middle-Earth, where the good Numenoreans allied with the remaining High Elves and defeated Sauron to end the Second Age (Gil-Galad, Isildur, Elendil etc.), thus precipitating the loss of the One Ring that is so important in the Lord of the Rings. And, of course, the good Numenoreans founded Gondor and Arnor.

The story of the Fall of Numenor is hinted at in LOTR, but it is told in detail in the Akallabeth in the Silmarillion. (Tolkien borrowed shamelessly from the Atlantis myth).

Yes, I am a Tolkien geek. At least, I didn't explain who the Numenoreans were before they came to Numenor.

My Contribution to the Listening Process

"a book that honors the Word of God, the faith once delivered, and moves it into our cultural context."—The Episcopal New Yorker

"seeks to meet opponents on their own ground, assessing their arguments carefully and refuting them courteously.... The value ... lies not in its conclusions alone but chiefly in the way Haller reaches them. Whoever is charged with compiling ... resources [on same-sex relationships] will want to add this book to the list."— The Anglican Theological Review